Events related to the MIT Club of the Delaware Valley . . .
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July 15, 2004

Wharton Reception

BizNet and Wharton Admissions will be co-hosting a reception for all MIT alumni in the area. Wharton admissions staff will be on hand to talk about the school and the admissions process. Come and find out all the in's and out's of applying to the various Wharton academic programs, e.g. MBA, Exec MBA, etc.

September 23, 2004

MIT Enterprise Forum Broadcast

TECHNOLOGY AND THE FUTURE WARRIOR: PROTECTING SOLDIERS IN THE 21st CENTURY

The MIT Enterprise Forum is proud to present our next Satellite Broadcast a provocative look at cutting-edge technologies being developed to safeguard our troops, featuring two speakers on the front lines of this research.

The United States military spends billions of dollars developing aircraft, ships and weapons systems, but its most valuable resource is its soldiers.

Through rapid advances in new and developing technologies like autonomous battle suits, ultra far-forward medical care, wearable computers and miniaturization, the U.S. Army is looking to increase the protection and survivability of the men and women in uniform. Best of all, there is lots of government money looking for solutions.

October 20, 2004

MIT Sloan on the Road

You and your significant other are invited to attend any event hosted by MIT Sloan Admissions. "MIT Sloan-on-the-Road" receptions include a presentation of the goals and character of the MBA Program and offer a chance to talk with the people who know MIT Sloan the best — MBA Admissions staff and alumni.

The program begins with a 30-minute presentation about the MIT Sloan MBA Program, followed by brief introduction and comments from MIT Sloan MBA alumni and questions from the audience. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about the MIT Sloan MBA Program from people who know it best --alumni and members of the MIT Sloan MBA Program staff.

The NY/NJ BioPharma Trek Alumni Reception is an evening event organized by MBA students from the BioPharma Business Club at the MIT Sloan School of Management. This event provides MIT alumni the opportunity to meet fellow alumni working in the life science industries, as well as current Sloan students. The reception is part of a larger event where a group of about 15-20 MIT Sloan students travel to NY and NJ for a series of scheduled presentations and informal discussions at several major life science companies.

Benefits to Alumni

Renew ties with fellow MIT alumni within the life science industries.

Meet a group of current students to learn about the latest at MIT Sloan.

Logistics

The reception will be held at Verve Restaurant in Somerville, NJ on Monday, January 10 th, 2005 from 7-10 pm. Please meet us in the upstairs reception room where hors d’eouvres and cash bar will be available. We hope you can join us to meet fellow alumni and share some experiences with current students.

Please RSVP by December 31, 2004 to Shaun Heaney, MBA 2006 at Shaun_Heaney@sloan.mit.edu.

MIT Enterprise Forum Broadcast and BizNet Brainstorming

The MIT Club BizNet is hosting an event to brainstorm on the possible creation of a local chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum. All professionals, executives, and entrepreneurs please come out with ideas, desires, needs, and an open mind.

Please arrive before 7 pm if possible as security gets tighter after that time.

At the meeting, we will also present the latest broadcast of the Forum:

Forecasting Markets: Capital Update for 2005

What do the capital markets have in store for high-tech entrepreneurs this year? Join the MIT Enterprise Forum and a panel of renowned experts as we take an in-depth look at money sources for both growth and start-up companies in 2005. From VCs to investment banks to M&As and IPOs, this provocative program will cover the important money angles your business needs to know for the coming year.

Produced in association with the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge, "Forecasting Markets: The Capital Update for 2005" is a can't-miss event being broadcast globally to MIT Enterprise Forum chapters and MIT Alumni Clubs.

You’re an entrepreneur at a crucial junction in the early stage of your company. Your choices are to pull your bootstraps so tight they cut off circulation, ask the bank to further extend your loan, and deliver your elevator pitch at the next family function.

Or you can talk to an Angel.

The MIT Enterprise Forum, Inc. presents a rare insider’s look into the ever increasing role of Angel Investing in early stage technologies. Featuring a panel of experts from across the country, “Angel Groups in Action” will close the knowledge gap entrepreneurs and the tech community have of the practices and principles of angel investing.

Produced in association with the Angel Capital Association, program attendees and viewers will learn:

the truth behind common myths about angel investors;

common mistakes entrepreneurs make when approaching angels;

the evolution of angel investing and how groups can and do organize effectively today; and

the future trends of angel investments.

Featured panelists include Ed Roberts ’57, MIT Sloan School of Management Professor and Founder of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center; James Geshwiler GM ’00, Chairman of the Angel Capital Association and Managing Director of Common Angels; and Dan Roach (moderator), of Brown & Brown LLP.

Do you ever wonder how the really BIG ideas happen? From DaVinci and Einstein to Edison and Henry Ford: all made monumental advances through revolutionary thinking. Whether you're a scientist, intrepreneur, entrepreneur or corporate strategist, real success and real impact will come from your organization's ability to deliver quantum leap-style thinking that promotes advances in technological innovation and products that boost bottom line results. But how do you do this? How can you become a REVOLUTIONARY thinker?

The MIT Enterprise Forum, Inc. and the MIT Enterprise Forum of Atlanta present a unique program that looks at how cutting-edge technologies are invented and how these technologies move from laboratory curiosity to real commercial adoption.

"The Power of Revolutionary Thinking" will feature a panel of visionary researchers who will explore how organizations, both large and small, can use revolutionary thinking to enhance the innovation process, and show us how advanced concepts go from far-off vision to becoming part of our everyday lives.

Speaker Biographies

Bob Cassanova

Dr. Robert A. Cassanova is the Director of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) in Atlanta, Georgia . The NIAC is focused on the development of revolutionary, advanced systems and architectures in the fields of aeronautics and space. He is the recipient of the NASA Public Service Medal for exceptional contributions to the Mission of NASA. Prior to becoming the Director of NIAC, Cassanova was Director of the Aerospace and Transportation Laboratory in the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). While in GTRI and in the School of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech, he performed research in biofluid mechanics, solar thermal energy, acoustics, combustion and rarefied gas dynamics. He received a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology; an MS in Space Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tennessee; and a BS in Aerospace Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Penny Boston

Dr. Penelope J. Boston is Director of Cave and Karst Studies and Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology; and Director of Research for Complex Systems Research, Inc., Boulder, Colorado. Boston specializes in cave microbiology, microbial life in extreme environments, astrobiology and the search for life beyond Earth, human life support in space, Mars research and human exploration of the solar system. One of the founders of The Case for Mars series of conferences, she is the author of more than 70 papers and an upcoming book on extreme life forms. She earned a PhD in Environmental, Population from the University of Colorado and the National Center for Atmospheric Research; an MS in Microbiology and Atmospheric Chemistry, and a BS in Microbiology, Geology, and Psychology, from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Bradley Edwards

Dr. Bradley Carl Edwards is President and Founder of Carbon Designs, a developer of high strength materials. He has led development of the space elevator project, organized three conferences, led a research staff of 70 people at the Institute for Scientific Research, and written the definitive book on the space elevator. Previously, Edwards spent 11 years as a staff member at Los Alamos National laboratory (LANL) leading advanced technology efforts for lunar missions, optical cryocooler development, and a Europa orbiter mission. He has over 50 publications, with three books and eight papers in the works, and has appeared on the cover of Discover and Science News. Edwards received his PhD in Physics in 1990. He is a NIAC Phase II Fellow.

Dava Newman AA '89

Dr. Dava Newman AA '89 is an Associate Professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, and faculty in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program (an MD and PhD program between Harvard and MIT). Newman specializes in investigating astronaut performance across the spectrum of gravity. She is currently the Principal Investigator (PI) on the MICR0-G space flight experiment to quantify astronaut intravehicular activity (IVA) onboard the International Space Station. Previously, Dr. Newman has been the PI for Space Shuttle experiments dealing with load sensors and astronaut workloads. Newman earned a PhD from MIT in Aeronautics, Biomed and Engineering. She is a NIAC Phase II Fellow.

Alf Nucifora

Alf Nucifora (moderator) is the Chairman of Nucifora Consulting Group, specializing in strategic planning and marketing services consultation. He is also a marketing columnist, syndicated in 40+ business publications across the country. A native of Brisbane, Australia, Nucifora entered the advertising and marketing business on the corporate side working for two Fortune 500 companies, first in Australia and then in the United States. He then made the move to the advertising business and later advanced into agency management as Chairman of the Southeast office of a $310 million advertising agency. He earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School , and a BA from the University of Queensland, Australia.

September 27, 2005

Wharton/Sloan Meet and Greet

October 19, 2005

Lab Fab: MIT Technologies for Tomorrow’s Ventures (Philadelphia)

Calling all alumni, entrepreneurs, investors, and technologists interested in cutting-edge MIT science and technology research! Join us at a special program presented by the Cambridge MIT Enterprise Forum for a rare view into some of the ongoing research work at MIT that will shape the future of entrepreneurship.

October 27, 2005

Lab Fab: MIT Technologies for Tomorrow’s Ventures (Wilmington)

Calling all alumni, entrepreneurs, investors, and technologists interested in cutting-edge MIT science and technology research! Join us at a special program presented by the Cambridge MIT Enterprise Forum for a rare view into some of the ongoing research work at MIT that will shape the future of entrepreneurship.

LAWS AFFECTING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE REST OF THE WORLD: TENSION OR HARMONY?

Dr. George A. Frank is Of Counsel in the Intellectual Property Group of the Business and Finance Department and Chairman of its Licensing and Technology Transfer Practice Team. His practice is focused on domestic and international corporate partnering, licensing and joint ventures involving patent law, chemical technologies and biotechnology, as well as related litigation, including patents and products liability. He counsels clients ranging from Fortune 100 to middle market to emerging technology companies. His extensive legal, business and scientific experience in the private sector enables him to address the issues that clients face on a daily basis.

Topics will include:

Patents--Origins in the U.S. Constitution v. Common and Statutory Laws World-wide

First-to-Invent (U.S.) v. First-to-File (Rest of the World) Determines Entitlement to a Patent

Patent Law Harmonization Efforts Among Developed Countries and Third-World Opposition

Patents in Biotechnology and for “Business Methods” (Methods of Computer Use and Algorithms) -- Pro-Competitive or Chilling Effect?

Burdensome Patent Litigation in the U.S. and “Patent Trolls”

Globalization of IP Work BUT Statutory Roadblocks to Outsourcing to Off-Shore Providers

Trademarks: the Lanham Act and the Madrid Protocol

Copyright: the Copyright Act of 1976 and the Bern Convention

More on Dr. Frank

A substantial part of Dr. Frank’s practice involves acting as a day-to-day legal advisor to a number of small to mid-size companies, from start-ups to established public corporations. He is experienced in providing practical legal solutions to complex problems that face companies, as related to all manner of transactions having an intellectual property component. In such transactions, Dr. Frank has handled due diligence investigations and the structuring of technology transfer for mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, joint ventures, and strategic alliances.

Prior to joining the firm, Dr. Frank was Corporate Counsel for E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company in Wilmington, Delaware, where he was Intellectual Property Group Leader. In more than 27 years at DuPont, he was also Lead Counsel to the $2 billion Lycra® business, Lead Counsel for the specialty chemical business, Lead Counsel for the diagnostics and biotechnology divisions, and advisor to diverse businesses including Lucite® finishes, Teflon® perfluoropolymers, Corian® surface products, and Berg Electronics. While at DuPont, he also served as chairman of the corporate Foreign IP Law Practice Committee.

Dr. Frank’s private sector experience also includes working for over a nine-year period as a senior corporate scientist for Thiokol Corporation, as a laboratory head for Borden Chemical Company, and as a group leader and senior chemist for Rohm & Haas Company. During this time, he also served for nearly two years as an adjunct professor of organic chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania.

For more information please contact
Robert Barrimond at biznet@mitdv.org, (610) 308-7334

There will always be entrepreneurs with new ideas and new ventures. And there will always be people ready to help finance these startup companies. It's one of the engines that drives the US economy. And an increasingly larger component of the financing picture is angel investors.

In June of last year, our global broadcast explained angel investing. In our "sequel" presentation, the MIT Enterprise Forum presents a hands-on, real-world examination of how entrepreneurs can approach angel investors, and tactical advice on how both parties work together to craft a financing agreement that benefits all.

Produced in association with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Angel Capital Education Foundation, program attendees and viewers will learn:

how to find angels

what is, and isn't, a good fit

when to work with VC instead, or with both angels and VCs combined

how to pitch

how to work together after funding

Through conversations amongst the panelists, the focus will be on principles and the best steps to follow, as well as real-world case studies, and how different sectors create different approaches.

Biographies

Randy Ayoob

Randy Ayoob is currently involved in business development and fundraising for two software development companies.' He is also responsible for the management of Human Resources for both firms.' He is involved not only as an investor, but also maintains an active role in the structure, growth and corporate development of these emerging businesses.

Mr. Ayoob is a highly energetic and the successful principal of Global Associates, a consulting firm to clients ranging from start-ups to mature businesses.' One of his key strengths is successfully identifying the human capital required to attain objectives.' Clients are then free to focus energy on direction and significantly reduce the risk of failure.

Prior to Global Associates, Mr. Ayoob was Vice President of Human Resources at Fidelity Bank.' He also served as Vice President of two high-technology Fortune 1000 companies:' Aydin Corporation and Sperry Corporation.

Joel Cardis

An attorney and consultant to emerging companies, Joel Cardis has over 27 years of legal experience and a broad knowledge of startup issues. Cardis helps entrepreneurs prevent unattended issues from becoming devastating problems, while also providing strategic planning that enables businesses to grow and become attractive investment opportunities. Cardis employs his analytical skills and imagination to identify and prioritize issues, assess options and design, select and execute optimal solutions to successful conclusions. His ability to grasp both nuance and big picture issues enable him to provide clients with comprehensive and creative solutions.

Having lived and worked in Pennsylvania his entire life, and as lead author of Venture Capital: The Definitive Guide for Entrepreneurs, Investors and Practitioners (Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2001), which features many of the area's leading figures, Mr. Cardis is well known to the entrepreneurial and venture capital community.

Mr. Cardis is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the Dickinson School of Law.

Member, Greater Philadelphia Venture Group

Member, Screening Committee, Mid-Atlantic Angel Group

Judge, Philadelphia Angel Venture Fair

Judge, Drexel University Business Plan Competition

Mentor, Baiada Center, Drexel University

Former Executive in Residence, Science Center Port of Technology

John M. Coogan, Jr.

John M. ("Jay") Coogan, Jr. practices in the area of corporate law with a broad spectrum of interests. Mr. Coogan counsels publicly held and private companies and investment firms in mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, venture capital financings and the establishment of startup enterprises and emerging businesses.

Mr. Coogan is a 1985 magna cum laude graduate of Tulane University School of Law, where he was awarded the Dean's Medal and elected to the Order of the Coif, and a graduate of Vanderbilt University.

Cornerstone Bank - Served as outside general counsel and board counsel to publicly-traded NJ state chartered bank.

Jefferson Health System - Represented JHS in establishment of relationship with United HealthCare in establishing new JHS-affiliated PPO.

Regional medical billing company - Represented medical billing company in first of planned scaling acquisitions.

Osage Venture Partners II, L.P. - Formation of second venture fund.

Professional Activities

Active in Early Stage East and Greater Philadelphia Venture Group organizations

Robert J. H. McManus

A graduate of the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA and the Wharton School of Business, Robert McManus has had a colorful career prior to Wharton studies, including touring opportunities with David Bowie, Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones. For the past 15 years, he has occupied a quiet corner of the internet where candidates and clients meet in a confidential way to discuss mutual ambitions. Rob's clients include hedge funds, private equity, euro banks and bulge bracket firms. When start-ups have more equity than cash, Rob has taken an equity interest in these client companies. Because of this, Rob has interesting stories and advice for all who plan to dabble in the start-up market place.

MITEF Broadcast - Global Entrepreneurship

Inefficiency as Opportunity in a Developing World

Our world-class panel will explore the opportunities for entrepreneurs in developing markets around the world, focusing on key areas such as:

How to do good, and make money, by identifying needs and solving inefficiencies affecting poor regions

How high-tech solutions work in low-tech areas

Why entrepreneurship from the “bottom-up” works

How to use the US legal and financial systems to go global

How to overcome legal and governmental obstacles

You’ll hear real-world success stories from our entrepreneurs and the ways MIT is taking a leading role in globalization efforts for the 21st century as well as meet people in our local area interested and active in Socially Responsible Investing and Development.

February 13, 2007

MIT Enterprise Forum -- Financial Markets: Outlook 2007

Our Club will show a DVD recording of January's MIT Enterprise Forum on the timely topic “Financial Markets: Outlook 2007. ” The moderator is Liz Claman, Anchor for CNBC’s “Morning Call”.

The world-class panel examines at a macro level the flow of money for the coming year, answering such questions as:

* What are the outlooks for the VC, public and M&A markets?
* What is the general outlook for the economy - local, national, and global - for 2007?
* What structural and regulatory issues will pull and shape the capital markets over the coming year?
* How will all of these affect a company's financial strategies?